Manufacture of surgical ligatures.



ARTHUR W. (fl/ARK, Oh \"ONSlIOlIOFIUQN,

JOHNSON, OF NEW BRUNSWU'K, NEW ,ll)

iii TEN ill tllf lilllfiil MANUFACTURE OF SURGICAL LIGATURES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1908.

Application filed May 3, 1906. Serial No. 315,105.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lrnown that I, Airimfn W. (Minna citizen of the United States of America, residing in Conshohoclren, in the county oi" Montgomery, in the State of Pennsylvania, 1 have invented certain new and useful lmproven'icuts in the Manufacture of Surgical Ligaturcs, of which the following is a spccifi cation.

The. main object of my invention is to so treat the material for surgical ligatures made of animal tissues (ordinarily termed catgut, with an antiseptic or germieide, that the antiseptic or germicidal qualities of the ligatures thus treated will be more lasting and eflective. T his object I attain by charging the ligature strands while in an open. unbraided or untwisted state with an antiseptic,

and then twisting the strands so as to thercby mechanicaliy grasp the antiseptic and hold it.

The common method of rendering ligatures antiseptic is to in'ipregnate the twisted ligature with carbolic acid, mercury bichlorid, or other antiseptic solution. By this method the process of impregnation is very dithcult, the layers of twisted strands preventing the antiseptic or germicidal substance reaching all portions of the ligature fibers or tissues. In such cases the anti- ,septic'or gcrmicide must be a soluble one, the antiseptic being dissolved in the solvent and the twisted or spun ligature dipped into the solution. This process fails to accomplish,

the desired'result, and moreover, in such process the use of an insoluble substance entirely precludedr l accomplish the desired result in the following manner: In the case of asoluble antise tic or 'germicide, the substanceis dis *so ved'in a suitable solvent-andthe untwisted or unbraided strands are impregnated with the solution, leaving every part of the li aturc thoroughly and uniformlycharged. T he ligature is then twisted or braided the eide, I ma re a fluid mixture oi the substance which is to be. used as the antiseptic, and l. he substance 111: I are the strands'oi'. cot-gut thus mechanically suspend the fluid. while in a loose or free state, that is, more or less untwisted or unbraided, and I dip these free strands intotthe n'iixture, so thatwhen they are taken out, their surfaces will be cles. I also use the term llgatures in a -suihe1entl general sense to nicludc sutures.

While I do not wish to limit myself to the use of any particular insoluble antiseptic or germit-ide, .l have found that iodid of silver is well adapted for the 'JUI'POSQ.

The advantage resulting from the use of an insoluble. salt as an antiseptic, as cornparcd with a soluble antiseptic, is the lasting quality of the insoluble salt, which is not absorbed awayfrom the ligature in use, but

mains in thetissue unabsorbed.

The new ligature 0r suture herein described forms the subject of a separate patent No. 861,231, granted July 23, 1907..

In this specification I use the term insoluble to mean that tlrcantiseptic is insoluble in water, alcohol, ether or the ordinary solvents which. are acceptable and practicable, so that a solution of theantiseptic cannot be i made with which to impregnate the ligature in the ordinar manner. ()n the other hand, when a ligature charged with an insoluble antiseptic in the manner I have described is embedded within the living tissue, the vital processes which take place cause disintegration of the ligature and the antiseptic is taken up or absorbed by the organ isms present or by the living tissue, in a way which. is not fully understood, but which doubtless implies a slow dissolving of the antiseptic.

I claim as my invention 1. The process herein described or prepar ing surgical ligatures of animal tissue, con sisting in coating or chargin the strands for the hgatures with an inso uble antiseptic substance while the ligatures are in aloose state, and thereupon mechanically grasping and holding the antiseptic substance to the strands by twisting the latter.

2. The process herein described of preperlasts practically as long as the ligature re.

11g surgical sdiubm an strands fer 13h J am thia mizitu'. grmping sec awtisen ie subatzmi ring tin" in 1" rling an insuspx quid, ,1

name two bscmha o 0 1 upvy glued my 

